già Italian · revision 37515

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1190, Raimbaut de Vaqueiras|origins=la iam}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈd͡ʒa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''già''' (invariable)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ The TLIO records many Old Italian forms, among them northern [[roa-oit|za]], [[roa-oit|ça]] and [[roa-oit|ja]], and Tuscan [[m|roa-oit|giae]].^(TLIO)^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|la|iam|t=now, already]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The word is common to most of the Romance languages: [[fr|ja]], [[oc|ja]], [[ca|ja]], [[es|ya]], [[pt|já]] and [[sc|ja]], with [[fur|dza]], but it is missing in Romanian and in southern Italy.^(Nocentini 2010)^(REW 1935)^(DEI|1801) It is also found in compounds: [[digià]], like [[fro|desja]], the source of [[fr|déjà]].^(REW 1935) GDLI calls the Italian word semi-learned.^(GDLI)

+

+ The Latin adverb belongs to a small group in ⟨-am⟩, rare outside Latin, built on the pronoun stem ⟨i-⟩ of [[la|is|t=he, that]] on the model of [[m|la|tam]] and [[m|la|quam]].^(DELI 1999)^(OLD 2012)^(Devoto 1968|201) De Vaan reconstructs [[ine-pro|*h₁i-h₂-m]], an accusative “this”, and explains the adverb as originally meaning “as far as this is concerned”, hence “now”.^(de Vaan 2008) Nocentini compares formations in other branches: [[got|𐌾𐌿|tr=ju|t=now]] and [[lt|jau|alt=jaũ|t=already]].^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in Raimbaut de Vaqueiras's ''Contrasto'', about 1190, in Genoese.^(TLIO) DELI's first record of the main sense, an action completed or under way, is in Guittone d'Arezzo before 1294, which GRADIT and Nocentini follow;^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Nocentini 2010) GDLI quotes Guittone's line on an “onorata sua ricca grandezza”, whose worth “è già tutto perito” (has already all perished).^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its use to express assurance, irony or doubt is recorded even earlier than the temporal sense, in Giacomo da Lentini before 1250.^(DELI 1999) In Old Italian ''già'' could also reinforce a negation (“in no way, not at all”), as ''non già'' still does, and serve as an adversative “yet, nevertheless”.^(TLIO) The sense “by now” is in Boccaccio (1348–1353) and “from now on” in Giordano da Pisa before 1311.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ Before a noun ''già'' marks a former title or name, a use DELI dates to Davila in 1630 but finds much earlier in Petrarch's “al cor già mio” (to the heart once mine).^(DELI 1999) The narrative ''già'' of the old tales survives in literature, as in Boccaccio's “in Firenze fu già un giovane”.^(Treccani 2011)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) The rare ''già... già...'' “now... now” comes from Spanish.^(DELI 1999) Modern Italian also uses ''già'' alone as a reply, “yes, indeed”, often with irony.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1190 – Raimbaut de Vaqueiras's ''Contrasto'' has the word in its Genoese lines.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1250 – Giacomo da Lentini uses it to express assurance.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses it of a completed action.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1311 – Giordano da Pisa uses it for “from now on”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1342 – ''Giacché'' “since” is recorded in Domenico Cavalca.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it for “by now”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1630 – Enrico Caterino Davila uses it before a former title.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|already]]: of something that has happened or is happening sooner than expected: ''sei già arrivato?''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # Before now, previously: ''questo libro l'ho già letto''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # By now, at this point: ''è già buio''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Gabrielli 2020)^(DELI 1999)

+ # From now on, from this moment: ''già mi immagino la sua faccia''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # Before a noun or name, [[m|en|former]], formerly: ''il palazzo, già sede del comune''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Wiktionary)

+ # As a reply, [[m|en|yes]], indeed, sometimes ironic: ''«Fa freddo, eh?» «Già.»''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Treccani 2011)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+ # As an intensifier, and with ''non'' in correlations: ''non già per me, ma per voi''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[giacché]]

+ * [[giammai]]

+ * [[digià]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ormai]]

+ * [[la|iam]]

+ * [[fr|déjà]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Di già'' is a stronger form, used especially in questions and exclamations of surprise: ''di già?''.^(Treccani 2011)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020) In Tuscan ''già'' causes doubling of the next consonant, which shows in the spelling of ''giammai''.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}